Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 62 |
| 1858 | 29 |
| 1859 | 52 |
| 1860 | 27 |
| 1861 | 101 |
| 1862 | 87 |
| 1863 | 69 |
| 1864 | 32 |
| 1865 | 11 |
| 1871 | 11 |
| 1872 | 140 |
| 1876 | 812 |
| 1877 | 678 |
| 1878 | 526 |
| 1879 | 64 |
| 1880 | 180 |
| 1882 | 130 |
| 1883 | 911 |
| 1884 | 499 |
| 1885 | 838 |
| 1886 | 492 |
| 1887 | 484 |
| 1888 | 440 |
| 1889 | 1,324 |
| 1890 | 287 |
| 1891 | 1,115 |
| 1892 | 2,855 |
| 1893 | 2,829 |
| 1894 | 2,116 |
| 1895 | 1,830 |
| 1896 | 2 |
| 1897 | 62 |
| 1898 | 196 |
| 1899 | 446 |
| 1900 | 114 |
| 1902 | 34 |
| 1903 | 1,332 |
| 1904 | 1,126 |
| 1905 | 124 |
| 1907 | 53 |
| 1908 | 351 |
| 1909 | 1,545 |
| 1910 | 413 |
| 1911 | 160 |
| 1912 | 73 |
| 1914 | 261 |
| 1915 | 300 |
| 1916 | 545 |
| 1917 | 332 |
| 1918 | 45 |
| 1919 | 5 |
| 1920 | 1 |
| 1922 | 18 |
| 1923 | 185 |
| 1924 | 151 |
| 1925 | 64 |
| 1928 | 14 |
| 1929 | 19 |
911 stories
- Spokane Bets $1,000 on a Road to the Coeur d'Alene Mines
A Saturday-night mass meeting in Cannon's Hall puts real money behind a wagon road from Spokane Falls into the mining country — and the boosters are already calling their town 'the Denver of the Northwest.'
- Spokane Falls Demands Its Fair Share of the Territory
With Spokane County left 'out in the cold' without a representative while smaller Walla Walla holds three seats, the Review calls for splitting Washington Territory in two.
- Turning Gravel into Gold
Local skeptics are proven wrong as experiments with flax and wheat on Spokane's rocky soil show surprising success.
- The Editor's Pistol: A Deadly Quarrel in Walla Walla
Chas. Besserer, editor of the Walla Walla Watchman, shoots a brewer who threatened him, and is acquitted on grounds of self-defense.
- Washington Wheat Rolls East for the First Time
A landmark Northern Pacific shipment carried Walla Walla wheat through Spokane Falls toward Minneapolis, announcing the railroad's promise to turn Inland Northwest grain into global commerce.
- The Riotous Destruction of a Home
When a house caught fire, neighbors and bystanders didn't just help extinguish the flames—they tore the home apart.
- The Odyssey of Two Stolen Bays
A pair of horses stolen in Klickitat County resurface in Seattle, changing hands multiple times before their original owner comes to collect.
- Tragic Dynamite Explosion Kills Three Workers
A supply of frozen dynamite, left too close to a fire to thaw, detonates at a Northern Pacific work site.
- The Price of Paving Seattle
An editorial call to stop Seattle's streets from falling into ruin.
- The Chamber of Commerce Backs the Seattle, Walla Walla and Baker City Railroad
A new report argues that the construction of a cross-state railroad is essential to securing Seattle's industrial future.
- The Iron Road Reaches West
Surveyors are racing to connect the Snake River to Puget Sound, signaling a massive shift for Seattle’s future.
- A Miraculous Escape from the Josephine Explosion
A local woman and her children avoided tragedy on the doomed steamer by a mere thirty minutes.
- The Lawless Frontier
Violence on the Northern Pacific railroad line signals a looming safety crisis as massive construction crews arrive in the Cascades.
- Tragedy on the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad
A young fireman loses his life in a switching accident during Seattle's cold snap.
- The Great Hop Tare Battle
Seattle brewers and merchants fight back against the 'sacking cloth' price gouging of local hop farmers.
- The Ghost of the Well
A skeptical homesteader uncovers a decade-old double murder at an 'abandoned' property in Oldtown.
- Proving the Snoqualmie Pass
After successful winter cattle drives, boosters argue that the Snoqualmie route is the best mountain pass for a future transcontinental railroad.
- The Drive for a Snoqualmie Wagon Road
A Yakima cattleman campaigns to bridge the Cascades, aiming to turn Seattle into the primary market for Eastern Washington farmers.
- The Rivalry of the Sound: Seattle vs. Tacoma
A critical report from a German newspaper highlights the starkly different development paths of the two boomtowns.
- The Rogue of Seattle
A serial con artist who targeted the generous, leaving friends to pay his debts.
- The Price of Public Care
King County officials weigh competing bids for the medical and basic care of the county's poor in 1883.
- The Railroad Land War
A farmer on the Chehalis River accuses local officials and railroad contractors of corruption and 'bulldozing' tactics regarding land appraisals and property rights.
- The Dream of a Mountain Railroad
Proponents argue that a narrow-gage line over the Cascades would spark an economic boom for Seattle and the Yakima Valley.
- The Disappearance of L. L. Clifford
A member of the A.O.D.W. has vanished after traveling to Portland on lodge business, leaving his wife in a state of distress.
- Tragedy at the Seattle Penitentiary
A desperate escape attempt by three prisoners at the Seattle jail ends in a bloody shootout, leaving one dead and others wounded.